Column: What’s with all these rules about hair? Let young men enjoy it before they go bald

The last big election of the year is underway in Houston, as the country’s fourth-largest city is deciding who will be its next mayor. Because no candidate received at least 50% of the vote in November, there is a runoff between the two top finishers: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Sen. John Whitmire.

If Jackson wins, she will become the third woman to hold the job. If Whitmire does, he will be the office’s third consecutive bald man.

No shade. It happens.

Opinion Columnist

LZ Granderson

LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports and navigating life in America.

Read more from LZ Granderson

For some men the process can start before they reach 18. By the time American men are 35, more than 60% show signs of losing our hair. Nearly 90% by 50.

I write from experience, with some thinning that started after 40. I’ve already told family and friends what to do when they see that it’s time for me to shave off the rest: Make no eye contact. Just hand over a pair of clippers and the Hennessy.

But until biology intervenes, everyone should grow their hair however they like and savor it while they can. Period. Regardless of race or sex, regardless of racism or sexism.

Apparently this opinion is not universally held.

Just outside Houston, Barbers Hill High School has twice suspended a student by the name of Darryl George for not cutting his hair. The district’s dress code forbids any male student to have hair that falls below his eyebrows and earlobes, which feels rather sexist.

The fact the student is Black and has locs raises questions about whether race is playing a role in the district’s policy. Texas has a law on the books banning race-based hair discrimination, and Darryl’s family has filed a lawsuit saying the school’s policy violates that law.

Darryl actually wears braids, which prevents his hair from falling past his eyebrows and earlobes. However, the school said when he lets his hair down it is out of compliance — which looks a lot like moving the goal post.

Regardless of whether you find the school’s policy about the length of a male student’s hair to be sexist or racially motivated, we should all be able to agree that it’s stupid.

By the time men reach 35, most of us are either wearing more hats or growing what remains longer. That’s why Rogaine is the hottest drug since Viagra.

Why have a policy that robs young men of the chance to grow their hair as long as they can, while they can? If a student’s hair is braided while he’s on school grounds, why is long hair thought worthy of punishment?

The rule is a relic, and not one with much value.

Surely we’re not still supposed to be aspiring to look like FBI G-men from the J. Edgar Hoover era. It’s hardly a “clean-cut” association now that we know more about the Hoover FBI’s dirty dealings.

The country’s most popular league, the NFL, is full of successful men with long hair on the field and in the booth.

Jay-Z has locs and is a billionaire partner of the NFL.

Beyond the worlds of sports and entertainment, male elected officials today have hair that hangs past their lobes and eyebrows. And take a look at Silicon Valley and the amount of money young men with long hair command.

So just what is so disruptive about a Black student wearing locs in a metropolitan area with one of the biggest Black populations in the country, and in the state with the largest Black population? He’s not disrupting his environment; he is reflecting it. The fact that punishment is the response to that reflection makes me wonder what exactly the school district considers a crime.

We have progressed past a world where the length of a man’s hair determines his value to society. We no longer write off young men because of their long hair or older men because of their smooth look.

Chances are young men like Darryl are headed toward Stevie Wonder territory anyway. I know I am. What’s the harm in letting them enjoy the spoils of youth while they can?

@LZGranderson